Many types of electrical female terminals are known in the art. One such electrical female terminal is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,713,080. This female terminal receives a blade terminal. The main elements forming the female terminal are first, second, third and fourth walls which are joined together into an integral unit at their edges between the first and the second, the second and the third, and the third and the fourth walls. A co-operable lock device is formed, in part, on a free end of the first wall and, in part, on a free end of the fourth wall. The co-operable lock device locks the walls into a closed configuration to define therein an interior volume in which the first and the third walls are in facing relationship and the second and the fourth walls are in a facing relationship. Individual ones of a pair of terminal elements are formed integrally from respective ones of a pair of facing walls. Each of the terminal elements is folded back from its point of attachment to the wall into the interior volume of the terminal to form at main blade terminal contacting portion which is resiliently deflectable when engaged by, an inserted blade terminal.
A drawback of this female terminal is that it cannot be sized for a 0.5 terminal system. Also, if the main blade terminal contacting portion is scaled-down, it will not provide a proper resilient normal force for tin terminals.
Another such female terminal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,603 which describes a female contact. The female contact has a male contact receiving section for receiving a male contact, a wire terminating section for connecting a wire to the female contact and a spring-loaded contacting section that extends from a bottom wall of the female contact. A protrusion extends inwardly from spaced longitudinal locations along a side wall of the male contact receiving section so that the spring-loaded contacting section engages the protrusion when the spring-loaded contacting section has a force pushing it downward towards the bottom wall, thereby providing a surface that is attached to more than one location on the side wall which can better withstand a downward force and prevent deformation of the spring-loaded contacting section.
Like the above prior art female terminal, this female contact, if scaled-down, will not provide a proper resilient normal force for tin terminals. Additionally, scaling-down of this female contact will compromise its structural integrity.
Yet another female terminal is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 7,351,122 as a receptacle terminal. The receptacle terminal includes a contact section. The contact section includes a substantially L-shaped contact spring, a first protection member and a second protection member. The contact spring includes a link arm and a contact arm. The link arm has a first edge and a second edge opposite the first edge. The first edge extends in a mating direction of a mating terminal. The contact arm extends along the first edge and has a tip end portion connected to the first edge. The first protection member has a first link arm protection member opposing the second edge. The second protection member has a second link arm protection member opposing the first edge. The receptacle terminal ensures protection of the contact spring and necessary contact pressure between the receptacle terminal and a mating terminal while having a small external size.
The L-shaped contact spring provides additional spring reinforcement. Unfortunately, to create the “L-shape” of this receptacle terminal, multiple corner cuts are required during its fabrication. As a result, its structural integrity is weakened. Furthermore, its structure is complex and difficult to manufacture.
It would be advantageous to provide an electrical female terminal that can be scaled-down in size while providing a proper resilient normal force, even for tin terminals. It would be beneficial to provide an electrical female terminal that can be scaled-down in size without compromising its structural integrity. It would also be beneficial to provide an electrical female terminal that can be scaled-down in sized while having an L-shaped spring assembly that can be manufactured without multiple corner cuts. The present invention provides this advantage and these benefits.